The claimed invention relates generally to a field of art known as trap setters, the devices used to arm animal traps at the time they are placed into use. One of the difficulties in animal trapping is in setting or arming the trap in a manner which will present no hazard to the person setting the trap. Especially in the beaver traps, tremendous force is required to compress the wire springs which provide the force for closing the trap, and if the trigger is accidently actuated the device can be just as harmful to the person setting the trap as it can be to the animal it is sought to trap. Typical inventions which have been used to overcome this difficulty are illustrated following. Hall and Hall (U.S. Pat. No. 3,462,872 in 1969) taught a trap setter of a configuration similar to the invention whereby two hooks could be pulled together to arm a trap, the forces being provided by pulling a rod with the hands through a tube restrained by a foot loop. However, there is no mechanical advantage provided the person setting the trap. Treadwell (U.S. Pat. No. 3,800,463 in 1974) taught a similar device with the restraint of the foot applied to a non-enclosed base. No mechanical advantage is available here, and the person setting the trap must have firm ground on which to place the unit, in order to press down on the springs of the trap. Often times, actual operation of the trap setting takes place in the water, in a swamp, or in other places where stable surfaces are not available. The device overcomes difficulty in the prior art by allowing a very fast setting of the trap through a highly levered device, a ratchet-type mechanism, which very quickly loads and backs off from the springs once the trap is set. The device of the instant invention is also arranged such that the trap may be set completely in mid air by the application of hand pressure, and thus the trap can be set under the most adverse of trapping conditions. No hard surface is required on which to place the traps, and the ground around the site for the trap is disturbed a very minimum, a condition most favorable to trapping.